Meet the top-lobbied political gatekeepers in 2018

The most-lobbied staffers last year worked on money files like innovation and finance, as well as the environment, a hot-button issue legislatively.

Ben Chin, chief of staff to Finance Minister Bill Morneau, left; Clare Demerse, senior policy adviser to the environment minister, centre; and David McFarlane, policy director to the innovation minister, right, were the top three most-lobbied political staffers in 2018. Photographs courtesy of LinkedIn and Twitter

Canada’s most-lobbied political aide is Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains’ policy director, a man whose job, as one lobbyist put it, is basically to be lobbied.

Gerald Butts has removed himself from the daily political grind of strategizing how to keep the Liberals in power. But observers say it's unlikely he will be consigned to watch the campaign unfold from the sidelines.

SNC-Lavalin risks a takeover if it's convicted. But aside from likely outrage in Quebec, Ottawa can find other builders for its infrastructure plans if the company is banned from bidding on federal contracts, experts say

The Quebec company had extensive access to government ministers and top staffers, and was the only organization registered to lobby for allowing deferred prosecution agreements for white collar crimes.